


Taking A Chance

by blue_jean_baby_queen



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 2001: A Space Oddysey - Freeform, Also Steve knows ACDC but not 2001: A Space Oddysey, Attempt at Humor, ClinTasha if you squint, Developing Relationship, Domestic, First Kiss, Fluff with a little Angst, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I also have no clue how board meetings actually work, M/M, The Avengers have mad cooking skills, The Stark Industries board should be fired, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tonys and Steves arguments, and I'm kidding, what?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 21:58:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3149756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_jean_baby_queen/pseuds/blue_jean_baby_queen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even after living together for over half a year Tony and Steve still argue about the dumbest things and even manage to piss each other off when they actually mean well. The other Avengers know better then to put themselves in the line of fire.<br/>Luckily for all their nerves it finally begins to change.</p>
<p>This is stupid, fluffy and somehow a little bit angsty on the Tony part. Also likely to be very poorly written. <br/>You have been warned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking A Chance

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is very stupid and on top of that I wrote it on my phone, which is a guarantee for typos and bad formatting.  
> The guarantee for grammar mistakes is that English isn't my first language.   
> I tried though.
> 
> This is not the first thing I wrote, but it's the first work I published. I think you know what I intend by giving this information.
> 
> Also Teen Rating is only for some swearing.
> 
> I just realised that you're gonna have to assume Tony and Pepper broke up somewhere along the way, but still work together. That's maybe important.

The warm weather was unusual for the early weeks of spring in New York, not that anybody was complaining. Bruce Banner briefly looked up from his tablet to sidestep Steve in the kitchenette on the communal floor of Stark Tower.  
Latter was about to put a second baking tray into the oven while Clint commented his doing from on top of the fridge.

"I don't get it. Winter is just over and now you get the idea to bake cookies, Cap'n. Not that I mind, cookies are great anytime the year, but it's still weird." 

"Not half as weird as you climbing around in the air vents singing Jailbreak.", Steve replied with a mockingly charming smile.

That caused the scientist to look up from his lab reports, confusion plastered on his face. Steve caught his look and just nodded.

"Everybody has a hobby, Steve.", Clint answered with a false frown. "Yours is baking christmas cookies in spring. Mine is eavesdropping on Tony in his lab. It's hilarious, really."

"And here I was thinking he was joking when he said that something was wrong with the vents, because they seemed to develop a taste in music.", Bruce chimed in again.

"Do you think he knows it's me snooping around?"

"I'm pretty sure he knows it's you, but since he hasn't booby trapped the system yet, I don't think he minds."

"He could booby trap the air vents?", Clint replied in honest shock.  
Steve and Bruce rolled their eyes. The archer really should know better by now. Just when Clint was about to say something else the oven annonced the cookies were done. It literally annonced it with a slightly higher and way more mechanical voice then Jarvis. Apparently the billionaire had gotten bored since the last time someone had used the stove and tinkered around a little. The microwave though was still malfunctioning since the cooking incident they didn't speak about. It included bread, a disturbing amount of gun oil, Tony's Arc Reactor, a small pressure wave and the guarantee that they would all be arrested if it should ever seep through to the press.  
The three men flinched at the modification and Steve muttered something along the lines of it's Tony we're talking about, he could booby trap the balcony railing for all I know. Then he turned his attention back to the oven.

"Actually it's a shame to spend such a beautiful afternoon inside.", Bruce commented as Steve piled the first tray of baked goods on a plate to let them cool.

"Afternoon?", Clint jumped down from his seat and began to look for a clock.

"It is 2:35 in the afternoon, Agent Barton." Jarvis supplied helpfully.

"Well, shit! I guess that's my cue. I've got an appointment with Tasha in ten minutes and I'm gonna be late, so I can only pray that she's in a good mood. Otherwise... I don't really want to think about it!"  
Then he hurried towards the elevator.

"That only leaves the two of us, Captain. Any suggestions?"   
Steve dropped the tray into the sink and turned towards the other man who shot a glance over to the glass front of the penthouse where the sun shone down on the balcony.

"Do you think Tony owns anything remotely resembling garden furniture?", Steve asked following Bruce's look towards the glass doors. "We could play chess or just enjoy the view. Its a suprisingly nice view for New York. Where's Tony anyway? I haven't seen him since he blew up that coffee machine two days ago."

"Sir is attending a board meeting as we speak.", the A.I. answered, "Concerning the furniture you should find something in storage level 98 that should serve your purpose."

 

While Steve and Bruce began a nice game of chess on the sunny balcony of Stark Tower, the owner himself was beginning to question his sanity in said board meeting.  
He felt like he was gonna throw up the next time one of the suit clad idiots that called themselves board members of Stark Industries mentioned buged cuts for R&D.

"Like I tried to tell you before," Tony said, "there will be no buget cuts in Research and Development as long as I have a say in it."

"You made yourself very clear, Mr. Stark. However the board agrees that the money is desperately needed in the PR Department and your stubbornness is not going to change that." 

The billionaire subdued the urge to repulsor blast the mans brains out to give them an example of actual bad PR. Who cared about a little explosion in a lab anyway. He was supposed to be the best of the best at what he did, at least Pepper had said so, but right now even Birdbrain would do a better job.

"Sir, your point is that S.I. needs a good public image. The last time I checked it wasn't all that terrible to begin with. But I guess you still want improvement, so I say we put the money into reserach and make progress. We show the public results that are actually useful, we increase our image. Easy as pie."

Tony could practically see the cogs turning and the smoke rising as suit-idiot number 3 (he still refused to think about the board members by using their names) thought about his argumentation. He could fucking recode Jarvis in the time it took this idiot to think about some simple sentences.

"Undoubtedly, you have a point. Still, spending the money on PR is cheaper, it's a very significant amount cheaper." 

"I thought this was about public image, not expense.", Tony wondered. This asshole was not turning his company into a spineless facade just because it was cheaper. He had worked to hard to get away from that to loose it to a stupid buget cut.

"I suggest we vote.", suit idiot 3 annonced and ten seconds later Tony Stark found himself outvoted by his own board. He wanted to murder someone.

 

Steve almost dropped the teapot due to the horrible chrashing noise from inside the penthouse. Alarmed he and Bruce jumped up from their seats, almost throwing the cess board of the table.  
They looked inside just in time to see Tonys brown briefcase hit the floor next to the bar, along with the remains of the glass cabinet and its contents above it.

The soldier and the scientist were frozen in place and stared dumbfounded as the expensive liquor soaked through the leather and into the papers that decorated the floor like confetti.  
Another crashing sound drew their attention towards the kitchen counter. Tony had throwen his suit jacket onto the marble surface and kicked over a barstool which fell to the floor with a clattering sound.  
That was when Steve remebered how to speak English.

"Tony?", he began softly, "Are you all right?"

Despite his effort to not startle the man, Tony spun around arlarmed. He relaxed when he spotted two of his roommates, so to speak, standing by the glass door leading to the balcony where not 11 month ago two demigods had fought an epic battle.

"Bruce, Steve. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were here. I ehm.. didn't mean to scare you?", Tony said, trying to sound sincere and relaxed but the stress was still radiating of him.

"We're good. Worst thing that could have happened was me dropping the tea." Steve looked concerned. "But you're not good at all. What's wrong?"

Tonys face hardened. The entire relaxed act was gone in the blink of an eye.   
"Nothing." The answer was almost spat out while Tony turned to collect his jacket from the counter.

"What?" Ok. That came out a little harsher then Steve had meant it to.  
"Never mind, Captain. Thanks for your concern though."

Next to Steve, Bruce shifted uncomfortable at the sudden tension in the room. What originated here was one of Steve and Tony's infamous pissing contests. Those began about some insignificant topic, like a dirty pan in the sink or a seemingly misplaced remote, and ended with the two of them not talking to each other for days. It was the best to retreat and keep out of harms way until they reached the silence phase. The team had learned that the hard way.

Bruce excused himself, muttering something about a running experiment and made a beeline for the elevator. The doors closed just as Steve said: "You come home, break a cabinet, kick over a chair and then you tell me it's not my business?"

"Yes. It's my tower and if I feel like breaking a cabinet, guess what I'll do?"

"Will you at least tell me what's wrong? Maybe I could help!"

Steve had crossed the room, standing right in front of Tony now, a challenging look on his face.  
The bilionaire returned the look equally determined.

"No, I won't and no, you can't. Now move, Freezer Pop, I've got work to do."

He tried to push past Steve, but the taller man grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him back, maybe a little bit to forceful, because Tonys lower back hit the edge of the hard counter and he let out a little gasp. Then he raised an eyebrow, surprised about the sudden manhandling.

"I just had a really bad day. No need to get your panties in a twist, Capsicle."  
Steve would have given anything to wipe that smug smile of Tonys face.

"Would you stop calling me that, Stark?" 

"Stop calling you what?"

Before Steve could answer that Tony knew damn well what he meant, the elevator doors opened reveling Natasha and Clint. Steve took a step back, but Natasha had seen and purposefully misinterpreted anyway. 

"Are you two finally kissing and making up?", she asked with a devilish grin, "Because you can cut the sexual tension with knives. Very bad, very cheap knives."

"Oh yeah.", Tony shot back, "Rest assured good ol' Steve here is into some kinky shit. The way he was manhandling me around before you came in, downright dirty." 

While he spoke he slowly retreated and when Steve turned his head again to glare at him he disappeared trough a doorway at the other end of the kitchen.

 

The next three days Tony stayed in his workshop, meaning that only his quest for coffee on the evening of the second day let the team know that he was in fact still breathing. 

Saturday night however even Tony made an appearance on the communal floor and stayed longer then the time it took the coffee machine to work its magic.   
The team had agreed on a movie night some time ago. Ever since they gathered in the kitchen of the shared floor to first have dinner together and then watch a movie.   
It served multiple purposes. The official ones where team bonding, and the Captains and occasionally Thors education in modern pop culture.   
It also made Tony have a full meal at least once a week, which sadly was an improvement.

Bruce had, once he'd seen his teams cooking skills, quickly agreed on preparing the meals. Sometimes Steve assisted, but that was as good as it was gonna get.  
Natasha, even though she's a highly talented woman with many areas of expertise, wasn't capable of creating anything that required more skill than pasta and Clint once managed to set the fridge on fire. 

Nobody knew what had happened and to be honest, nobody wanted to know.

Tony claimed he was just as bad as the archer. Natasha knew for a fact he was just fine with the basics, but covered him out of unknown motivation.

This evening Bruce prepared curry with rice and vegetables and Tony had ordered a giant supplie of various popcorn flavours.

Thor was currently at Asgard what meant the five remaining Avengers didn't bother with moving to an actual table and rather ate at the counter sitting on the barstools.

"And that's when I realised that I made a mistake with the parabolic speed.", Tony told Bruce shovelling rice into his mouth in a very obscene way, "Parabolic speed out of all things, can you believe that?"

"Would it be rude if I told you that thst probably wouldn't have happened if you slept occasionally?"

"Yes, Brucie, that would be rude. But I love you and therefore I forgive you."

"He's got a point though.", Steve chimed in, "You should sleep more often."

Tony turned his head slowly, sporting a facial expressions to which can only be referred by major bitchface and answered: "Yes, mom.", with a sugar sweet smile.

It only was Steves advanced hearing that allowed him to pick up the muttered "Here we go again" from Clint and he swallowed his response along with a mouthful of Tonys admittedly exquisite white wine.

Half an hour later the group changed locations and settled onto the couches infront of the TV. As usual Clint and Natasha occupied the giant couch almost alone by spreading out like they owned the place.   
Bruce sat down on the right end and Clint promptly leaned against him.

Steve was left with the slightly wider than normal armchair.   
When the bilionaire followed his lodgers (actually more pains in the ass then lodgers because they didn't pay any rent) into the living space carrying two large popcorn bowls he snorted at the sight that greeted him.

"Are you kidding me? I'm making you popcorn and you're thanking me by not even leaving me any space on my own couch?"

"We're grateful like that.", Clint replied without moving an inch.

Tony dropped one of the bowls on his stomach as he passed the couch.  
"Move over, Captain Iglu.", he ordered and tried to squeeze in next to the blond man.

"What? Why me. There's a couch made for six people and used by three right next to you.", Steve gasped as Tony pushed his elbow in the talker man's ribs to make him move.

"Of which two are trained assassins and I'm a man who likes his balls and internal organs where they are, thank you. Now move!"

Steve sighted and gave up. Tony had been sitting half on his lap anyway by now and the dark haired man was heavier than he looked.  
At least he didn't have to pull acrobatic stunts to reach the popcorn now.

"We already agreed on a movie while I was sweet talking the microwave into working? That I have to deal with a malfunctioning machine here is a crime all by it self. I should really order a new one or something like that. Anyway, movie?", Tony asked from very, very close next to Steve.

"I thought '2001: A Space Odyssey'. It's a classic and Steve hasn't seen it yet.", Clint replied immediately and Natasha nodded eagerly.

"He hasn't seen... ok. Wow. J, pull up the movie, lower the lights. The whole shebang.", Tony told, looking vaguely towards the ceiling.

 

Somewhere in the middle of the "Jupiter Mission - 18 Month Later" part Tony slid down a little in his seat and when Steve didn't complain he rested his head against the blonds shoulder.  
Clint had nodded off twenty minutes ago and was now cuddeling Natasha in his sleep, while he still leaned against Bruce.

Bruce caught Tonys eye and the two scientists smiled. It was rarely this peaceful in the tower, when Steve and Tony both were awake in the same room.   
Better make a cross on the calendar.

When the movie ended Natasha carefully woke up Clint, who needed a few seconds to orientate again in the dark room. Then they left towards their floors.   
Bruce yawned, streched and waved the two remaining Avengers goodnight. When he had left Tony and Steve sat there, silent.

"You feel like going to bed, Tony?"

"Not really, no.", he replied and turned his head on Steves shoulder so he could watch the soldier.

This kind of understanding and yes, intimacy between them was far from normal and they both knew it. It was as if any movement of any kind would break the spell and ruin the moment.

Tony sighted from where he was cuddled against the Captain. 

"Steve?"

"Hm?"

"I'm taking a chance here, so please don't punch me?"

Steve wanted to ask what the heck this was supposed to mean now again, but when he opended his mouth to ask the engineer to be less cryptic he felt Tonys lips against his.   
He hadn't expect this. Never even thought about it. This was still Howard's son. But he liked it and he couldn't help kissing back.

Then, out of nowhere, Tony suddenly pulled back and tensed. 

"I'm sorry, Steve. I don't know what I was thinking."

"What?"

"I really shouldn't have kissed you.", he said, shuffled away, got up hurriedly and was about to turn and run.

"Tony, wait!"

Steves sudden use of the Captain America voice made Tony freeze.

"What's wrong? Tell me, please. Tell me this time, because this time it matters and Tony, god help me, I'm not able to make head nor tail out of it.", Steve demanded and got up from the armchair to face Tony.

"I...I can try. Look, this thing... it's not fair. It's not fair for you and not fair for me, but mostly for you."

"Care to elaborate on that, for I don't get it yet."

"Steve.", Tony's expression could only be described as pained, "You've read my file and some of the gossip magazines too, I suppose, you know I'm no good when it comes to emotions or relationships or anything that needs honest human interaction. I hurt the people I care for. Ask Pepper, or Rhodey. Actually ask anyone. I can't do this to you and on top of this all I'm Howard's son. You should have seen me grow up not..." 

His voice died down slowly until it was nothing but a mumbling. Steve heard him nevertheless.

"Tony. I don't know if anybody ever told you, but for a genius you are very stupid."

Steve took two quick steps forward and pulled Tony into his arms.

"That's it? I open my heart to you and all you do is insult my intelligence?", the smaller man asked.  
Then he got pushed away a little so Steve could look at him. 

"Yes."

When Steve pulled him close and kissed him, Tony knew that this was as good as it was gonna get with actual answeres tonight and he was surprisingly ok with it.

Both men missed the quite sight of relief in the air vents and the muttered "finally" from the doorway.


End file.
